There Was Chaos in Ferelden
by Doctojuji
Summary: Told during the events of Dragon Age 2, the Hawke family is forced to try and regain the life that they lost. But things never seem to go their way as an unexpected guest joins their family. In her darkest of hours, Lisa Hawke must decide on her new family's fate, all the while keeping Kirkwall from crumbling down around her. (Femme Slash)
1. A Hero is Born

There was chaos in Ferelden. There was death and chaos and loss and fear: fear that was shown in the eyes of every villager of Lothering as they fled their homes. Some were lucky enough and smart enough to have left earlier, to see the war in Ostagar as a dark sign. But the Hawke family wasn't one of these. And it wasn't as if they didn't believe the rumors of a Blight, but they simply believed they could out fight it. And why not? They were a strong family, a fierce family that held their love for one another above anything else. But in the end…the chaos was more than any of them had expected.

A blonde woman pushed through the crowd of fleeing people, seeming to run in the wrong direction as she approached the line of soldiers on the bridge. "Carver!" The woman called, reaching out and grabbing the bicep of a young man. He wasn't more than eighteen, and with his baby face and dark cropped hair he hardly looked it. And when he turned his eyes showed nothing more than anger as he pulled away from the woman's grasp.

"What are you doing here, sister?" He asked, switching his blue-eyed gaze between her and the road in front of him. In the distance they could see the specks of the approaching horde as the weak army tried to prepare for their strike.

"You need to come with me. We have to escape before it's too late," she explained, her grey eyes pleading to him.

"I can't do that, Lisa. My place is here. You go back and get Bethany and mother to safety. I must protect Lothering."

"There's nothing to protect!" She snapped, yanking at his shoulder to force him to turn around. "Don't you see? Lothering is lost. What you're doing is suicide. I can't go back without you." Lisa's younger brother stared at her before looking over at his shoulder one more time and then at the faces of the soldiers. They all saw it too. There was no battle here, simply death.

"Men! Get to your families, flee with them," Lisa explained before taking Carver's hand and yanking him away from the bridge and through the destroyed city. Looters had tried to take advantage of the chaos at one point, but even they realized that staying for a few extra silvers wasn't worth their life.

The pair showed up at the front of their small home, Bethany was shoving a few more things into packs as the sibling's mother and father argued with one another. "You can't stay here, Malcolm!" The grey-haired woman pleaded as Lisa stepped past Bethany, giving her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before Bethany embraced her twin brother.

"You're staying?" Lisa asked in disbelief as she looked upon her father. When she was younger the man looked like he was as tall as a mountain. But as the years had passed he had slowly fallen more and more into his old age. His blonde hair was speckled with strands of grey and his grey eyes were tired. He tried to give Lisa a reassuring smile, but she wouldn't take it. "You can't stay here, you must come with us."

"The horde is too far along. I will stay and delay them as much as I can," there was a screech in the background that alerted them that time was almost up.

"No!" Lisa's mother shouted, "You will not risk your life for us!"

"Leandra," the man spoke softly, brushing at the tears that had dripped down her face. "I risked my life for you the day we ran away together. Let me die knowing that I saved the family that I gave everything up for," he breathed before giving her a tender kiss on the forehead and guiding her towards the door. Malcolm turned back to Lisa, the eldest child's eyes glazed over in tears. The man smiled, taking her hand and giving it three gentle squeezes. "Carver will take this the hardest…you must be patient with him. Bethany…please keep her safe. And Leandra," he looked over Lisa's shoulder to see the woman hugging herself as she looked out at the horizon. He pulled back and slipped a gold ring into her hand. It was his wedding ring, the cool feeling of metal made a knot form in Lisa's stomach. "Bring the joy back to her eyes for me," he finished as Lisa gave a small sob, looking down as the man pulled her into his arms.

For a moment she felt like she was ten again and had come home after breaking her arm when she fell into the pond in the woods. Her mother had scolded her, told her she shouldn't be venturing so far, that it could endanger all of them. But her father had just pulled her into his arms, carefully mending her broken bones and holding her till her cries ceased. "You must be strong," he had said, "one day people will look to you for strength. They won't find any in your tears."

"You must be strong," he whispered into Lisa's ear as the woman looked up at the ceiling to try and blink away the tears. "But when you have brought everyone to safety…remember what it was like to be weak. One does not grow from ignoring the pain. Be what is best…not that which is most base," he breathed as Lisa slowly nodded before kissing him gently on the cheek. "I love you, all of you."

And then they ran, the three siblings trying to hide their tears for their mother's sake. Lisa instructed Carver to lead them through the cliffs outside of Lothering while she had Bethany keep and eye on her mother. Arrow after arrow she flung from her bow, watching as Darkspawn fell and then another appeared in its place. They never seemed to end and any break they gained were for only seconds before their fearsome roars started to sound behind them.


	2. There's No Shame in Running

Fortunately, it seemed the farther they got from Lothering the thinner they were, whether that was a good or bad thing, they didn't know. They simply chose to take advantage of the instance as Lisa went off to find some more arrows to fill her quiver. "I can't believe he's gone…" Leandra cried as Bethany sniffled and rubbed at her mother's back.

"I shouldn't have run. I should've fought with father!" Carver yelled as Lisa stepped up and stabbed him in the chest with her finger.

"Father gave us the ability to out run the Darkspawn. It's selfish of you to think that adding your own death would've been more help," she growled as Carver's mouth shut but his glare grew.

"Where are we going to go," Bethany breathed, carefully setting her crying mother down on a nearby rock.

"I…I don't know," Lisa explained, unable to looked any of her family members in the eye. She needed to stay strong, to keep the tears away. But everything hurt. She was tired, scared, and devastated. Her father had been her hero, the only one that ever seemed to understand her, laugh at her jokes, and enjoy her stories. His advice was always what she needed to hear. But now…now he was no more.

"Kirkwall," Leandra answered as the three of them turned to look at her in surprise.

"Kirkwall? That…wouldn't be my first choice," Lisa remarked as her mother stood from the rock and wiped at her face.

"There's a lot of Templars in Kirkwall, mother," Bethany explained with worry.

"I know, but we have family in Kirkwall, and an estate," she explained as Lisa looked towards where we needed to go. It was a long trip to Kirkwall, a whole week at sea, but their mother was right, it was their best bet for right now.

"Then we should get moving," Lisa remarked and her family nodded in agreement. But in only about an hour of walking they came upon another pair of people looking to escape the Blight. They seemed to be married, or at least that's what Lisa assumed. The woman looked strong and confident, her ginger hair an extreme contrast from the dirt and grey rocks around her, her husband seemed injured, but that wasn't the worst part of it.

The Hawke's stepped in to help the pair, killing the Darkspawn that surrounded them. Only then the husband stepped forward, he was wearing Templar armor, something everyone in the Hawke family knew to keep away from. "Stay back mage. The 'spawn are clear in their intent, but a mage is always unknown."

"Wesley…" his wife pleaded as she put her blade away. Lisa stepped in front of her sister, glaring at the man before turning towards the ginger.

"I am Aveline and this is my husband, Wesley. Thank you for helping us…we can be at each others throats once we're free of this place." Lisa frowned, moving her gaze over to the Templar.

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"No…I suppose I will simply keep an eye on her."

"And I you," Lisa muttered before pushing past the two and onwards through the cliffs. The worst part out of all of this was the sounds. The screams and guttural roars filled the air like the dark smoke from burning homes. There was no chance of getting back to Lothering. It was gone. And the thought really started to unnerve Lisa. All of this was too much to take responsibility for. She was simple muscle in her family. Carver had taken to being a soldier, her mother was a seamstress, her sister aided her mother but mostly kept herself hidden from Templars, and her father was a carpenter. Lisa let herself be contracted and the only guideline she was given was just to get the job done. There was never someone's life on the line…but this time it was five.

They continued onward only to come up against another small group of Darkspawn. Or at least it had started small. Whether these things learned or not, Lisa didn't know. But one minute she was doing some crowd control and the next she was surrounded. "Lisa!" Bethany shrieked as her older sister whipped around just as a Darkspawn began to swing down. She held up her sword to block but then there was a sudden growl and the Darkspawn was gone.

Lisa looked down as a black wolf chewed on the creature's neck till it was still and dead. The wolf then turned and seemed to smile at Lisa as the woman smirked, "Good girl," she remarked before returning to the fight at hand. The dog's name was Clara, Lisa's right-hand partner when things got tough. She wasn't house bread, and Lisa had nothing against it. The pair had sort of just found each other a few years ago in the woods and instantly took a liking to one another. She would disappear for days and weeks at a time but in the end she would always come back and Lisa was sure she was never far. And apparently she'd been in search of them this whole time but, as always, once the fight was over and the wolf considered them safe enough, she was gone.

As they neared the plateau of the mountain they were all exhausted and had hardly made it into the Kocari Wilds. But Lisa needed to keep them moving; they didn't have the time to stop. And thankfully no one went against her. They all knew this wasn't something to argue about. It was life or death. Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse as a massive ogre hiked its way up to face them. And while Lisa was nervous, she was sure they could defeat it and keep moving…as a group. Unfortunately Carver seemed to have another idea.


	3. The First

"Die scum!" He yelled, charging forward with his sword raised.

"Carver! No!" Lisa screamed after him, drawing her bow and firing as one hand of the ogre started to swing down. The arrow sunk into its palm and the creature howled and pulled its hand back. Unfortunately that only seemed to make it angrier as it kicked a massive foot and sent Carver flying backwards, colliding painfully against a rock. Lisa gasped at the sight of his limp body sliding down to the ground.

"Lisa!" Bethany called, pulling the woman from her worries to turn back to the ogre. She frowned, watching as the monster lowered its head, readying to charge. Lisa did the same before the pair ran at each other. She held her bow out to the side and at the right moment, jumped, flipping over its head with ease as she let the string of her bow wrap around its head and slice into its neck. The ogre roared as she flipped around, holding on to the wood of her bow like she was holding the reins to a very odd two-legged horse.

The ogre shook its body, trying to get her off before deciding that jumping onto its back would be the best idea. Lisa grabbed a knife on her belt and quickly sunk it into the top of its head and as it dropped onto its back she swung back forward, using her knife to keep her planted to the creature before taking advantage and sinking another blade into its chest.

At first the cry of pain from the monster was marvelous…but then everything seemed to sink in. Lisa turned to see her mother bent over Carver with Bethany standing by him and Aveline tending to Wesley who was no longer able to stand on his feet. She wiped at her brow, drawing the ogre's blood against her forehead as she tried to slow her breathing. Kneeling next to her mother, she looked up at Bethany for some sort of hope; sadly, her sister's magic couldn't bring Carver back to life.

"My little boy…" Leandra cried into Carver's shoulder.

"Mother…we can't-"

"No!" She screamed, turning to look at Lisa's sad face, "We _can _wait! This is your fault for letting him run off like that!"

"Mother please don't blame Lisa. No one knew he was going to do that…"

"It's okay, Bethany," Lisa remarked as she swallowed a pained knot in her throat, chewing on her lip to push back the rush of pain and sadness in the pit of her stomach. "I'm sorry, mother. I should've watched him closer," she admitted, bowing her head and blinking at the hot tears on her eyes.

"Hawke," Aveline remarked as Lisa and Bethany looked up to see another wave of Darkspawn.

"We can't keep this up," Bethany said with worry as Lisa fired arrow after arrow at the massive group.

"We have to," she whispered only for a massive roar to make her jump. At first she thought it was another ogre but as she looked up she found it was instead an unimaginable dragon. The violet beast jumped from the higher cliff and glided over the plateau, blowing fire on all of the Darkspawn. It turned and then came down again and at first Lisa thought it was coming after them, but then it grabbed at the remaining Darkspawn and tossed them off the cliff, swooping around again to land in an open area. And that's when it changed to a woman that was a fraction of the beast's size.

"Well, well, what have we here?" The woman questioned as Lisa lowered her bow, looking over the stranger. She was dressed in armor that matched her form as a dragon, the sides of her white hair pulled up into horn-like shapes. The smile on her face showed amusement but her amber eyes showed curiosity…and age. Lisa felt like she was looking at a woman that was centuries old.

"What do you want?" Bethany questioned, raising her chin in an attempt to look threatening. It was something the whole Hawke family did, although for Carver and Lisa it was normally taken seriously. Bethany, unfortunately, was too sweet of a girl to really frighten people by a shift of her chin.

The woman cackled, throwing her head back before looking at Lisa, "I saw a most curious sight; a massive ogre, vanquished. I wanted to see what manner of creature defeated such a beast. But now my curiosity is sated and you are safe." She explained, turning back towards the cliff. Lisa hesitated, glancing over her shoulder at her weeping mother, Aveline, Wesley, and Carver's body.

"Wait…" she called, turning back as she put her bow away. "We're looking to get to Kirkwall…is there anyway you could show us the safest way there?"

"Kirkwall?" The woman laughed again, "My, my that's quite the trip. Sadly, though, there is no safe path there and my charity has been given." Lisa chewed on her, looking down at the ground before back up at the woman.

"So you would just leave us to die?" The woman smirked at Lisa, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hurtled into the chaos, you fight…and the world will shake before you. You do not need my help, child." But she then paused, her smile fading, as she seemed to be thinking about something. "Is it fate or chance? I can never tell…" she muttered before looking back up at Lisa and giving her a small smile. "I ask for a simple errand in return."


	4. A Forgettable Year

"Anything," Lisa remarked, relief rushing over her.

"Careful…I haven't told you the errand yet," the stranger cackled. "This amulet," she pulled a necklace from her belt, "it must be brought to a Dalish camp just outside the city of Kirkwall. Promise to do this and I will lead you safely to a boat that will take you to Kirkwall." Lisa rolled her lips, glancing back at her family before nodding at the woman.

"I promise."

"Lisa…" Bethany whispered, "we don't even know who…or what she is," the woman's sister remarked, shifting her eyes between the two women.

"I know who she is," Aveline announced, "the Witch of the Wilds." The witch simply laughed and shook her head.

"To some, yes. I am also Flemeth, Asha 'Belenar, 'an old hag who talks too much,'" she laughed as Lisa raised a curious brow. It all sort of made sense to her, the age, the power, the strange understanding of the strangers she was dealing with. Flemeth smirked, seeming to see that Lisa was still on board with her desire. She glanced over the woman's shoulder and frowned, "But before we leave…there is something we must deal with."

She spoke of Wesley who had apparently been corrupted before Lisa and her family had run into the pair. And after all of their travels it had spread through his body and was slowly starting to kill him. Flemeth explain that the only chance that Wesley would have of living was become a Grey Warden. Unfortunately the majority of the famous warriors were killed at Ostegar and the rest were where no one could reach them. So the sad decision was made that Aveline was to end his life. It made for a very sober walk to the coast.

The boat ride wasn't very enjoyable either. It allowed everyone to be alone with his or her thoughts. Lisa tried to ignore the pain in her heart and the tears that would trickle from the corners of her eyes when she tried to sleep, but it was no good. She felt like everything was her fault. Maybe if she had been home sooner, if she'd convinced Carver to come back sooner that their father would've been able to come with them. Maybe if she had been paying attention she would've been able to stop Carver before he charged into his death. But she hadn't…and it was her fault.

As they arrived at Kirkwall they came to the sad realization that they weren't the only refugees looking for a place of haven. And even worse news came when they were informed that Uncle Gamlen had lost the estate, the name, and the money that their mother's family had worked so hard for.

The only good thing he was able to do was get them into the actual city. Unfortunately, that meant sending Lisa and Bethany into indentured servitude for a year. Aveline was fortunate enough to get taken in as one of the city's guards.

But at least they were away from the Blight.

There was an obvious difference between Kirkwall and Lothering. First, the place just seemed much more uptight. Lisa couldn't exactly see what it was, maybe because the majority of people that lived in Lothering were poor, but she'd never seen so many social statuses. It was all so foreign to her. Sure, she knew there were rich and poor people in the world, but she'd never felt poor when she was in Lothering. Now she felt worse than dirt itself.

Another thing she missed was when it rained. Lothering didn't have any paved roads except for the massive bridge that somewhat cut through their town for traders. So when it rained – really rained – the town seemed to stop all together. The roads would get too muddy for carts to be able to make their way through, workers therefore couldn't get the materials they needed, and in the case of her father than meant he got to spend the day home. And when she was little they would run outside with the rest of the kids, jump in the puddles, and slide down the muddy hills till their clothes were permanently ruined. When she got older Lisa found the joy of just staying in with a good book. And the one thing none of the children grew out of was when their father pulled out a big book in front of the fire and they all huddled up to listen to him read. Their mother would be in the kitchen making dinner but Lisa would every so often catch her stopping to listen or chuckling at a funny part.

Kirkwall just didn't have that.

Rain hardly stopped the city and it normally meant that her work didn't stop either. She couldn't exactly complain, she was basically doing the same work she'd done when she was in Lothering…although there was no pay involved. But Lisa forced herself to just be happy that she was in the city. That's what she had done the whole year; force herself happy, force herself to ignore the sad look her mother would give her and Bethany whenever father or Carver came up in conversation. The worst part was that Lisa had to try and force herself to ignore the fact that her mother blamed her for all of it.

Lisa hadn't told anyone about having her father's wedding ring. She didn't know why other than she was afraid they would take it from her. It was the last thing she had of him, the last physical memory of better days when there were five of them rather than the strained three. Maybe someday she would tell her mother, but now wasn't the time.

When the year passed and Lisa walked away from her boss in a flurry of angry shouts about being treated unfairly, the young Hawke suddenly realized something: she had nothing to do. She was always working, always had a schedule, but now she was free. And sadly that wasn't good. They were sharing their uncle's house, which he didn't exactly appreciate and none of them were really bringing in any kind of money to help with rent. So it was time they looked for work.


	5. The First of Many

Sadly, Ferelden refugees weren't exactly looked highly upon. Sure, she had a little more leverage just because she had a decent reputation, but it wasn't anything for people to trust her to do a job; at least until they came upon a stubborn dwarf by the name of Bertrand. He was leading an expedition to the Deep Roads, the home of the Darkspawn. The only reason he could was that due to the end of the Blight, the Deep Roads would be practically empty, thus they would be able to travel deeper into the cave system. The deeper one goes, the more treasure that could be found. So this sounded perfect to the Hawke sisters as they attempted to plead their case to him.

"Come on, Bertrand, you know I get the job done," Hawke explained as she followed after him. "Why don't I buy you a drink and we'll talk about it?"

"No," he remarked flatly, "I've had dozens of you Fereldens come and tell me that you can get the job done. I'm not looking to get a job done, now go," he snapped as Lisa frowned, straightening up before turning around and grumbling curses under her breath.

"What are we going to do? That was our best chance…" Bethany remarked worriedly. Lisa sighed, reaching over and giving her a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Bunny, it'll be fine," she smiled only to stumble as a man shoved past her. At first she didn't think much about it and then something occurred to her and she reached down to find her coin purse gone. Quickly she yanked the bow from around her torso and notched an arrow, only to see a blonde dwarf punching the thief with his body pinned to a stone wall by an arrow. Lisa blinked, lowering her bow as the dwarf walked back towards her, tossing over her stolen coin purse in the process.

"You need to keep a better eye on something like that in a place like this," he chuckled as Lisa gave a small and suspicious thank you. "No need. I actually wanted to speak to you, I over heard you talking with my brother and you see he's not looking for another pair of muscles, he needs someone to help fund part of expedition."

"Okay…and why are you telling me this?" Lisa asked, crossing her arms over her chest. The man chuckled, a laugh that strangely relaxed Lisa as he smoothed his hair back.

"Because I think you have just what we need. All you've gotta do is get the coin and some maps and you can bet that he'll take you down there with us."

"Is that so?" Lisa raised a suspicious brow, "And how much coin would this be exactly."

"Fifty sovereigns." Lisa practically choked on her own spit at the sound. Fifty sovereigns? She could hardly make that much in a year, much less the next few weeks. "Aw come on, I know you've got it in you. Besides I know where we can find some work that'll pay well." Lisa glanced at the man and then at Bethany who shrugged.

"It's not like we have anything better." Lisa sighed before hesitantly holding her hand out to him.

"Hawke."

"Varric. I can see some real good coming out of this," he remarked as he took her hand and gave it a firm shake. Lisa had to admit that she felt good about this new partnership; maybe he was right…there was some good that could come out of this. After all of the death and loss her family had suffered they deserved a little peace.

After he somewhat failed attempt to gain another job, but instead a new companion, she set her sights on seeing an old friend. And when Lisa had met up with Aveline she found that the woman had made quite the impact in Kirkwall. She was already the captain of the guard, taking the place of her corrupt captain and leading the guard with a just, iron fist. And in truth Lisa was happy for her. They'd become close after the year, even if they hadn't seen each other much. Both of them had the same sort of desire and craving and both of them had let down people that meant more to them than anything.

But things at home weren't going very well. Gamlen was becoming antsy about getting a little help with rent. And it seemed innocent except that every time he asked for money Lisa's mother would ask what he did exactly with their parent's fortune. Gamlen continued to claim that it was gone, that their grandparents didn't leave their favored child anything, but Lisa's mother refused to believe it. And soon enough she couldn't take it and sent her two remaining children to find exactly what had been said in the will.


	6. Returning What Was Theirs

They had made their way down to Darktown, a place Lisa never particularly enjoyed visiting. It wasn't the grime or the darkness of the place; it was all of the sadness. This was where refugees that weren't as lucky as her and her family – which was saying something – made their homes. Lisa hated being here because she couldn't help but wonder where they'd be if they were here rather than in Lowtown. The thought sent an uneasy shiver up her spine as they stopped by a thick wooden door.

"This sounds like the place mother was talking about," Bethany remarked as she unlocked the door and stepped in.

It was all very strange. They had entered in the basement where only a few dim lanterns lit their way. Apparently this had once been the largest wine cellar in Kirkwall – something her grandparents seemed to care much about – but now it simply looked like a place that had long been forgotten. They made their way through corridors and rooms, finding the every so often bottle of wine that the slavers, who now occupied their grandparents' home, had missed.

There was a small bit of resistance, but compared to the Darkspawn during their escape, it was nothing they couldn't defeat. And soon enough they were up and in the actual house, staring at the vault that had been unable to be opened by any of the slavers. And Lisa had to admit she was a little intrigued to go through the door that lead to the main part of the house.

This was their mother's home, a place where she had grown up and where her parents loved her. Their mother had had a fantastic life and a fantastic home, and she gave it all up just to go after someone she loved rather than someone that was chosen for her.

Lisa lifted paintings and sculptures, glancing at everything that cluttered the small space before turning towards a small picture frame in the corner. Her jaw fell as she looked upon a young image of her mother. She was beautiful – not that she ugly now – she was truly beautiful. Everything about her radiated elegance and joy. That smile…that was a smile she'd only seen once in her life. It was the day Carver and Bethany had been born, when their family had grown and before Bethany's powers were realized. That was meant to be the start of their carefree life.

"Found it yet?" Bethany asked from the other side of the room as Lisa blinked out of her thoughts before clearing her throat.

"No…although I did find a picture of mother," she announced and Bethany came over, gasping at what she saw.

"She's so beautiful…"

"It must've been her picture that her parents would show to suitors," Lisa explained, continuing on her search for the will.

"I've never seen her so happy," Bethany remarked and Lisa stomach turned at the thought. Slowly she glanced over her shoulder to see tears welling up in her sister's eyes.

"Bethany? What's wrong?" She asked, straightening up as her sister gave a small and sad laugh and a shake of her head, wiping at her eyes.

"These were the days before she had to worry about father…or me. Life must've been so easy then. She had whatever she wanted and all the beauty in the world." Lisa frowned, pushing the picture down and pulling at her sister's jaw.

"Bunny…you know mother would give that up all over again whether you became a mage or not."

"I know," she whispered, looking away as Lisa sighed, shaking her head and returning to the search. Soon enough they found the documents they were looking for and made their way back out of the vault and back to Gamlen's house, reading it in the process. And none of it was what Gamlen claimed.

They returned to their mother and uncle arguing about rent again, but Lisa simply wasn't in the mood for it as she stepped in and slammed the will down on the table. "You lied!" She hissed as Gamlen looked down at the papers, fear suddenly running over his face.

"Lisa what are you…" Leandra looked up at Gamlen curiously, "what is she talking about, Gamlen?"

"I-"

"Don't waist your breath, uncle. Bethany and I went to the vault and found the will. Grandfather and grandmother left you everything, mother. They left you the house and the money; they still loved you even after leaving. And the best part," Lisa looked over at Gamlen with a frown, "they left Gamlen with nothing more than a stipend…controlled by you, as if knowing what he would do with an uncontrolled section of your fortune."

"G-Gamlen," Leandra breathed, glancing over the documents before looking back up at her brother, "how could you?"

"How could you just leave us?! You were always mother's and father's favorite and yet you just ran off with your mage lover and left me to deal with them. You didn't even come for the funeral!"

"The twins were a week old!"

"Well that doesn't matter now, the money and the estate are gone like I told you."

"I expect you to pay my mother every penny back," Lisa growled, leaning towards him only to feel her mother's hand gently pull her back.

"That's not necessary, Gamlen. I…I'm sorry for what I put you through, even if what you did was wrong. But with this information I'm going to take it to the Viscount to try and get our estate back." At that she turned and made her way into one of the bedrooms. Lisa blinked at how calm her mother was with all of this as Gamlen grumbled and muttered something about going out for a drink.

Lisa huffed into a seat by the fire, leaning back and pushing her fingers through her hair. "I could never imagine doing anything like that to you or Carver," Bethany remarked as Lisa glanced over at her with a tired smile.

"I know." The younger sibling smiled before letting it fade as her eyes drew over Lisa.

"How are you?"

The sudden question surprised Lisa as she tried to think about it and her first answer came without much hesitation. "I'm tired…and I'm lonely," Bethany frowned.

"What do you mean? I'm here and there's Aveline and Varric now." Lisa chuckled and shook her head, giving a small sigh as she leaned forward to look into the crackling fire.

"It's not that I'm physically alone…I just feel, empty. Like there's some big part of me that isn't here. With father and Carver gone…" she paused, clearing the sadness from her voice, "I feel like I've haven't done anything more than pretend their deaths didn't happen. And admittedly I miss Clara," she sighed, glancing up as Bethany nodded. "I know she wasn't around much…and normally I never expected to see her on some day. But when she did it was always the perfect time," she smirked, standing from the chair.

"I know," Bethany sighed, crossing her arms over her chest as she adjusted her position against the wall. "But you know she wouldn't come with us. The Kocari Wild is her home. I'm sure no manner of Blight could drive her out of it…" Bethany remarked, giving Lisa a sideways smile. "Maybe…maybe she has another family she needs attending to. She seemed like such a mothering animal." Lisa smirked and nodded, stretching her aching back, although the stressed muscles were starting to become a familiar feeling.


	7. Not So Sweet Justice

With some extra money clinking in Lisa's purse, Varric informed her of where they could get a set of maps for the Deep Roads, sending them into the dirt covered streets of Darktown again.

"So…he's a Grey Warden then?" Bethany asked as the group made their way through the streets in search of this man's free clinic.

"Was," Varric corrected before giving a small chuckle, "then again I'm not really sure how the politics in the Grey Wardens work. He could easily still be one but just denying working with them." Lisa sighed, not liking the sound of any of it. It wasn't that she didn't believe in the idea of Grey Wardens, she just didn't see how someone that had given their life to a cause could just pack up and leave it. Maybe after this visit they would find out.

The group stepped through old and rotting doors to find what looked like a very shabby clinic. Groups of refugees waited around tables some looking ill and wounded; others seemed to just see this as a safe place to be. In the far corner was a blonde man bent over a table, his hands running back and forth over a small boy's unconscious body. Lisa had no idea how long he'd been at it but all of a sudden the boy gasped to life, sitting up as his mother cried and wrapped her arms around the healed boy. The father patted the mage on the back as the man instantly looked drained. But after glancing out of the corner of his eye to spot Lisa he grabbed for his staff, turning around and preparing to defend himself.

"I have made this place a safe haven for all I will not let you taint it," Lisa held up her hands in surprise, blinking at him before the words finally reached her lips.

"We're not here to cause any trouble. We were told of a Grey Warden that worked here…would you be him?" The man looked at her suspiciously, lowering his staff some.

"And if I was?"

"If you were I would ask if you had any maps of the Deep Roads. There is an expedition down there in a few weeks and the one thing we desperately need are maps."

"So you aren't planning on taking me back to the Grey Wardens?"

"Um…no." At that the man's shoulders fell in relief as he returned his staff against the wall and smoothed his hair back.

"Then I'm sorry to say but I have no plan on returning to the Deep Roads anytime soon," he muttered as Lisa frowned.

"Then don't come, just give us the maps." The man chuckled, shaking his head and looking at Lisa like she was a little girl.

"I can't simply give you the maps…it simply would be too easy," tapping his chin his face suddenly became somber as a thought occurred to him. "But I would be willing to give them up for a favor."

"Yes?" Lisa asked, drawing the word out to signal that she was listening.

"I came to Kirkwall in search of a friend of mine that have been brought to the Circle here. We sent regular letters between each other but suddenly they stopped coming…until last night. He says he needs out and I'm not one to deny him freedom. I've asked him to meet me in the Chantry tonight, would you be willing to come with me?" Lisa chewed her lip, glancing down at Varric for some sort of insight but the dwarf simply shrugged. So she decided to just go along with it, nodding and agreeing to meet the mage outside the Chantry.

It was eerily quiet in Hightown at night. All of the nobles had gone to sleep and after having dealt with the gangs in the district there were no longer random fights breaking out on the expensive streets. So it was an easy walk to the Chantry doors where the group found the Warden waiting patiently for them. He gave Lisa an uneasy smile, straightening up as they got closer. "Okay," he started, moving to the door only for Lisa to hold up her hand.

"Wait…I don't even know your name." The man paused, looking at her like she was crazy. Introductions? At a time like this? He licked his lips and sighed, holding out his hand to the woman.

"Anders."

"Hawke," she responded before smiling and stepping past him and into the Chantry. They then made their way up to Anders's friend's meeting place quietly and calmly…only to find something they hadn't expected. The man turned around and immediately Lisa felt a pained tug in her stomach. On his forehead was the symbol of Tranquility.

"Karl…no," Anders pleaded as the Tranquil mage looked at him with an unemotional stare.

"This was for the best, Anders. I was out of control…and now I am at peace." Suddenly Lisa turned to watch as Templars began surrounding them, quickly she stepped closer to Bethany, attempting to shield her little sister.

"What is this, Karl!?" Anders asked as Karl continued to stare off into nothing.

"It is for the best, Anders."

All of a sudden Anders started yelling, his skin cracking as blue glowed through the splits. "_No! I will not let you have another!"_ A voice echoed through Anders. It truly scared Lisa and she wasn't sure if she should protect Bethany from the Templars or the out of control mage. But soon enough she didn't have much choice as a fight broke out, Anders fortunately fighting against the Templars rather than the people that were here to help him. And when it all ended he seemed to simply blink his eyes a few times and he was back to normal.

"A-Anders…" Karl breathed, his voice suddenly changed as sadness showed in his eyes. "What did you do? I…I felt at one with the Fade. Please Anders, I can't live my life being Tranquil, I need you to kill me while I still have these feelings."

"Karl…I can't," Anders whispered as Lisa chewed on her lip before reaching up and placing her hand on Anders's shoulder.

"My sister says being Tranquil is a fate worse than death," Anders bowed his head before looking back up at his friend.

"I'm sorry," he spoke before shoving a knife into the man's chest and ending his life.

The walk back to Anders's clinic was quiet as Lisa waited for the group to be less in the public eye before exploding at the mage. "What the hell was that!?" She snapped at him as the man shied away.

"Now, now, I know I should've told you about it but it didn't exactly seem that important."

"Didn't seem that important? I didn't know you were possessed by a demon!" She poked at his chest as he swatted her finger away and frowned.

"I'm not possessed, if you would just let me explain…" he remarked sternly as Lisa glared but backed down. "While in the Grey Wardens I came in contact with the spirit of Justice. It's not a demon. The spirits were the Maker's first children. But he and I found we were on similar planes and so I allowed him to inhabit my body. Since then, though, he has left and just his essence remains. I'm normally able to keep it under control unless…prompted by something," he said nervously, looking up at Lisa and hoping she wouldn't end his life right there.

The woman set her jaw, listening to his explanation but still not liking it. Spirit or not it was something that belonged in the Fade and the idea that it was part of his soul made her nervous. But if this 'essence' truly was for Justice than she could only hope that it would keep fighting for them, not against.

"All right," she muttered, "just…keep it under control," she remarked before turning away and heading out of Darktown. The whole experience had her a little shaken. Seeing Karl and the lengths that the Templars were willing to go just to control mages made her fear for her sister. She could see now why her parents were so concerned for her safety. The Templars in Lothering were more or less there just because they had to be, but they didn't particularly over shine anyone in terms of bringing in apostates. But the Templars here were a whole different breed. They were here to knock every mage down and make it seem like their born power was nothing more than a horrid curse.


	8. Their Meeting Was Fate

As she had at the end of most stressful days, after escorting her sister home and saying goodnight to Aveline, she'd make her way to the Hanged Man with Varric. The tavern was grimy and smelled of piss and vomit but compared to some of the places in Hightown, she'd pick here over anything. It had character and it was a place where everyone could walk in with the knowledge that everyone else was there to drink their worries away, to forget about their regrets and just slide into a comfortable buzz. But rather than sharing a drink with Varric, she instead waved him goodnight as he headed up to his room and took to drinking by herself.

It wasn't something she made a habit of, but sometimes it was nice to just be left to her own thoughts. She leaned back against the chair, feet kicked up on a nearby end table as she sipped at her cup of whiskey, fingers playing with the ring around her neck. The metal was worn at this point but it still felt like when her father had first placed it in her hand. She wasn't sure if it was enchanted but during her loneliest of times she could swear it would heat up as if to remind her of what she was fighting for.

Loud conversation at the bar pulled her attention from the flames as she casually looked over her shoulder to a group of men standing around a young woman. "You have your information, Isabela, now where is our pay?" One of them asked and already Lisa could sense this was going to go nowhere good. Slowly she placed her drink down and pulled herself to her feet as the woman spoke.

"Well, Lucky, since the information you gave me was worth nothing…then that's what I'll pay you."

"You little bitch," he hissed as he slammed her rising drink back down onto the counter. The woman chuckled, pulling at his hand and sending him off balanced as she slammed his head into the bar. Another man lunged towards her but she easily tossed him towards a wall before turning to kick the other man into submission. But with her back to the man against the wall she wasn't able to see him pulling a blade from his belt.

Quickly Lisa yanked her bow over her torso, notched an arrow, and flung it firmly into the wall between his legs, ripping the cloth that covered his twig and berries. The man looked up in fear and shock as Isabela turned to look at where the arrow had come from. "Whoops, guess I gave your manhood too much credit," Lisa smirked as Isabela chuckled, watching as Lucky and his rats scurried from the bar, cursing hollow words at her.

Lisa wrapped the bow back around her torso as she moved back to sip at her drink. As expected, Isabela hadn't chosen to ignore her. The woman slid into the chair next to her with a tired huff. "Do you make a habit of interfering with other people's business?"

"Only when needed," Lisa remarked, not turning her head to look at Isabela.

"And I looked like I needed help?" She sounded offended but Lisa could hear the amusement in her voice.

"No, but I've never been good enough with pickup lines," she teased as Isabela chuckled and gave a small nod.

"Very well, I guess I can humor you. I am Captain Isabela, although without a ship the title rings a bit hollow," she sighed sadly as Lisa finally turned to look at the woman. She was quite beautiful with the perfect amount of roughness around her tanned edges. Her body was covered in exotic piercings and tattoos, her hair was dark and pulled back by a fanciful bandana, and her eyes were a shocking amber.

"Hawke, Lisa Hawke," she responded with a tip of her cup in Isabela's direction.

"Hawke? That name sounds familiar…and from what I've seen you look like you can handle yourself in a fight."

"Maybe," she remarked with a smirk before taking a drink.

"Then maybe you could give me a hand with something. I have a meeting arranged with a…friend of mine in Hightown this evening. I've planned to duel him. I win, he's dead and thus he leaves me alone, I lose…well, then I lose." Lisa raised a brow, looking at the woman in the corner of her eye.

"And that's that? Cause I don't know if you're aware…but if you lose, you're dead too." Isabela chuckled, swinging back the last of the liquid in her cup before pulling herself to her feet.

"I also know that the man isn't going to play fair. Thus I am in need of a pair of skilled hands that could help me if things turn sour." Lisa smirked, finishing her drink and standing with Isabela before gesturing towards the door.

"Lead the way then and let me put my skilled fingers to good use," she remarked as Isabela smiled and did just that. And immediately it was clear she was right about her 'friend' not playing fair. They'd been waiting in the center of the part of the street for hours and nothing. Lisa was starting to doze off on the wall she was leaning against.

"There she is!" Came a shrill voice that made Lisa jump from her drowsiness to look up at an angry looking woman and some of her closest friends. She glanced towards Isabel who made it clear that this wasn't the person she was expecting before the pair set themselves up for an attack, putting down the woman and her men easily and swiftly.

"Coward," Isabela muttered as she went about picking through the woman's clothes before pulling out a letter with a frown. "Hiding in the Chantry, eh?" Glancing towards Lisa she waved at her to follow and Lisa nodded as the pair ran through the empty streets and up the stone steps.

"So why exactly is this guy after you?" Lisa asked as they made their way into the dark Chantry.

"I lost something of his," she muttered as Lisa nodded, noting the woman's evasive answer and deciding she would ask at a better time.


	9. All For a Pickup Line

"Isabela, fancy seeing you here," a man remarked as Isabela waved the letter in the air.

"Next time tell your men to burn the letters." She crumpled it up and tossed it to the floor at his feet. He sighed, shaking his head as he looked up at Isabela and then turned her attention to Lisa.

"I see you brought yourself some backup. Smart girl. But does your muscle for hire know really why she's here?"

"It doesn't matter. I want you to tell Castillion to leave me alone."

"Not until you make up for your mistake."

"They were a ship full of people! I refuse to be part of Castillion's next scheme to make money. And your relic is lost."

"Ah…that's no good," the man remarked as Lisa tensed, watching his hand move around his belt. "I was hoping that it wouldn't have to come to this."

"Too late," Isabela announced, pulling a blade from her back and flinging it towards the young woman next to him. It plunged through her throat and she collapsed onto the floor as Lisa whipped her bow out, quickly dealing with the archers surrounding the room. It wasn't as easy as the fight in the streets, but soon enough the pair stood victorious and panting.

Lisa winced as she broke the arrow in her shoulder, allowing her to pull the rest out from the other side. "Balls…you didn't even need a shot of liquor," Isabela remarked as Lisa sat herself on a stair, pulling off part of her shirt to inspect the damages. She tugged out a bottle of water and a bandage and started doing her best at fixing it with one hand only for Isabela to come over and help.

"My brother and I had to work to keep up with my sister's and father's healing powers. I know it sounds silly but when we got older we hated how out father and sister would so easily fix our wounds. So we would ignore them and tend to them ourselves and after enough stab wounds and bruises we gained a sort of tolerance over pain." She winced again as Isabela tightened the knot on her bandage before slipping the shirt back over.

"Well…thank you, Lisa. You definitely didn't have to go this far for a pick up line," she teased as Lisa smirked.

"I'm known for being persistent," the pair chuckled as Lisa stood, stretching her back and recollecting her arrows before glancing at Isabela over her shoulder. "What was he talking about, anyway?" The woman sighed, leaning against a wall as she waited.

"When I had my ship his boss asked me to escort a ship to Orlais. Only something about it didn't feel right. When I checked what cargo I was protecting I found it was a ship full of slaves; men, women, children, both elves and humans willing to sell their services to him just to get away from the Blight. So…I let them go. And ever since then Castillion has been nagging at me to make up for my 'mistake.'"

"The relic?"

"Yes…unfortunately, since my arrival in Kirkwall, I've lost it. That's what I was asking about when you found Lucky and me in the bar. I need to get it back…"

"To give to Castillion?" Lisa asked as she slipped the last arrow into her quiver and made her way over to Isabela, walking with the woman towards the door as she shook her head and smirked.

"Hardly. That loot is mine and I worked hard to get it. So the next time I get my fingers on it I'm sure as hell not going to let go."

From that day on Isabela chose to tag along with the group. Lisa wasn't sure if it was because the pirate enjoyed her company or if she was hoping that Lisa would lead her to her lost relic. In the end Lisa didn't care, the more help the better.

And that's when the witch's necklace seemed to start burning in her pocket again. There was something strange, though, whenever she considered bringing the necklace to it's final resting place; she felt like once she did everything that was going on in her life would be gone. It was dumb but she felt as if the moment she handed the necklace over she'd find herself staring up at the sky and watching as the Darkspawn over ran them on the mountains outside Lothering. It was a morbid thought, and one she kept to herself. But even Bethany wasn't in much of a rush to get rid of it.

Lisa had settled herself on the step outside her uncle's house, turning the amulet over in her fingers as she tried to read the strange inscription. It looked like a simple design, but when she looked closer it seemed to resemble words. Although they weren't any words she recognized.

"Hawke!" Came a small shout, making Lisa jump from her thoughts as she looked up and smiled at Isabela. "I don't think I've ever seen you simply doing nothing," she teased, taking a seat next to Lisa and the woman scooted over to make room. "What's that?"

"A necklace," Isabela made a surprised noise before sticking her tongue out at Lisa.

"Well no shit, slick, why are you so interested in it?" She clarified as Lisa smirked, holding it up to look at it in the sun.

"When my family and I were escaping Lothering we were saved by 'the Witch of the Wilds' and she made me promise to bring this to a Dalish camp outside the city once I'd gotten settled in. But…I haven't been able to bring myself to give it up."

"I wouldn't, it's her loss for giving it to you," she said nonchalantly as Lisa smirked and shook her head.

"Truthfully I don't really want it…too many bad memories with it, but at the same time since I've had it things have sort of being going right. We were able to make it to Kirkwall, get into the city, start making a name for ourselves. Hell, even meeting you was a nice little treat," she chuckled only to frown as Isabela gave her a serious look, reaching over and pushing Lisa's hand closed around the necklace.

"What's happened to you and your family is _your_ doing, no one else's. It's _your_ hard work that made people look to you for help. Not a silly necklace that some crazy lady gave you." Lisa continued to stare at her like she was looking at a completely different person, which was apparently enough to make Isabela uncomfortable. She cleared her throat nervously and stood, trotting down the stairs to turn and face Lisa. "Anyway…figured you should know that. Someone like you deserves to," she commented before making her way down the road.

Lisa hesitated, glancing at her closed fist before quickly standing and running after the pirate. "Isabela," she called, causing the tanned woman to stop and look over her shoulder. "Would you come with me? I'd be nice to have someone other than family there when I return it," she added as Isabela smirked and nodded.


	10. Loving Siblings

The next day they made their way to Sundermount, heading out a little later than they would've liked because of their mother's fussing. She insisted they bring sleeping mats and food for a week despite Lisa ensuring her they would be back before night. Eventually Leandra agreed and the three were able to make the trip to the mountains. They were a beautiful sight with rolling green hills and birds chirping in the trees. It was an immense contrast to the city and Bethany seemed a little more like herself as she picked wildflowers while they walked.

At one point she tied them into a small crown, placing them on her head with a pleased giggle as Isabela smirked. "If you two weren't standing next to one another I swear I wouldn't consider you sisters." It was true. While they both got a long well, Carver and Lisa's personality were more similar than Bethany's. And both the girls took on two different sides of the family. While Carver was a solid mix of both parents, Bethany was a heavy collection of her mother's looks while Lisa took her father's. Neither of them minded, but it normally took people a few minutes before realizing they were related.

"Bethany wasn't allowed to go out and fight like Carver and I," Lisa commented over her shoulder with a chuckle as Bethany scoffed.

"Last time I checked you weren't allowed to do that. Mother always seemed to be scolding you two about it. I still don't understand why you didn't listen to her."

"Because what's fun about following the rules?" Isabela remarked with a chuckle as Bethany scowled.

"Because, Bunny, the majority of attention we got from mother and father was when they were scolding us," Lisa answered without much thought.

"Oh," Bethany instantly looked hurt and turned her gaze to the ground as Lisa grumbled and sighed, realizing how her sister must've taken the comment.

"Bethany…it wasn't meant like that."

"Of course it was, you don't have to hide it," she muttered as Lisa rolled her eyes. She didn't have the patience for this. It was always the same with her; they always had to pity poor Bethany. If anything people should've pitied the other siblings because they had to live with it. They had to work for their parents' attention and even then it normally wasn't anything endearing. Sure, Bethany had to deal with her magic, but Lisa and Carver had to work just to remind the family that they still existed.

Isabela looked between the siblings with a raised brow. "All right…" she dragged out, giving Lisa a sideways look as the woman quickly shifted her eyes away. Sometimes Lisa was so embarrassed with her family. Why couldn't they just be normal?

Thus the rest of the walk was silent with Isabela making an every so often comment that only resulted in only a few grunts to acknowledge that they were listening. Apparently this upset Isabela because when Lisa finally chose to speak she seemed less than pleased. "So we'll just drop of this necklace and then head back to the Hanged Man for a pint?" There was silence as Lisa gave her a sideways look, "Uh…hello?"

"Oh I'm sorry…are you recognizing my existence now?" Lisa frowned.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, whatever you want it to mean," she muttered as Lisa opened her mouth only to close it at the sight of some Dalish hunters.

"Shem, there is nothing for you here, turn back," they warned as Lisa did her best to shrug off Isabela's little disagreement as she held up her hands to show she wasn't armed.

"I actually was sent here to deliver a necklace," she held it out and the two instantly shied away.

"A shem? When the Keeper told us I would've expected another elf. Very well, go on ahead, but do be wary that we're keeping an eye on you." Lisa gave a loose salute and a small nod of her head before shimmying past the two elves.

She'd never been in a Dalish camp before, hardly heard much about them. Her parents spoke of them and she knew the basics, but in terms of their traditions and living she had no idea. All of them were marked on their faces and they all gave Lisa, Isabela, and Bethany scrutinizing looks like they'd done something wrong. Lisa did her best to shrug it off but she could tell that it unnerved Bethany. The girl didn't like being wrong and the fact that she was mage didn't make things easier either.

They made their way through the campsite and up to an older looking elf that seemed to be Keeper-like. She greeted them with friendly sounding elfish words and Lisa simply hoped they meant good tidings. Smiling and bowing her head she held out the necklace only for the Keeper to push it back towards her. "Actually, I was hoping that you would be able to bring it up to an Altar at the top of the mountain to perform an important ritual with it."

"Right…" Lisa remarked with a slow nod of her head. That was how it always seemed to be these days. She'd try to finish something up quickly and it would just end up getting dragged out another few hours. Maybe they wouldn't be making it back in time for supper tonight. "So are you going to show me how to perform this ritual?"

"No, I will be sending you with my First who knows what must be done…and then I must ask you to take her with you."

"Well that's a bit of a tall order," Isabela muttered, crossing her arms over her chest as Lisa agreed with her.

"Does she want to do this?"

"Yes…despite the rest of the clan wanting her to do otherwise, she has made her choice and we must respect that." Again Lisa gave a slow nod before taking the elf's directions and starting their walk up the mountain to meet the Keeper's First.


	11. It's Not What It Seems

"So what are we going to do with her? Babysit? I'm sorry but that doesn't exactly seem fair," Bethany remarked. Lisa sighed and shook her head. Despite the scrutiny on her family from having mages, her family still wasn't one to embrace all races one hundred percent. Carver had always claimed that the only thing dwarves were good at was drinking. And while that was half true, Varric was also a good example that they had plenty of other talents too. Her mother, even, still saw elves as servants and apparently it had rubbed off on Bethany. Lisa just did her best to tolerate everyone.

"Bunny…let's just take it one step at a time. I'm sure she isn't expecting us to house her." And she didn't. The small mouse of a girl was quite aware of how much of a sacrifice this was going to be. She informed the group that her name was Merrill and that she knew quite a few spells, as all Firsts do. Merrill also made it clear that she wanted to see the world beyond what her clan showed her. And then she asked where she might be staying and there was a slight pause in the conversation.

"I just mean in terms of where I would be able to find a home."

"Oh…" Lisa remarked with a bit of shameful surprise. "Well, unfortunately in Kirkwall there is a specific area for elves to live."

"Really? Why is that unfortunate?'

"Because it's not seen as the lavish of places."

"I don't mind, I sleep on the ground every night anyway," she remarked, batting her sweet and innocent eyes. The girl really was a bit thick at times.

They continued to climb the mountain as Merrill told them about what they were about to do. It all seemed pretty straightforward and so Lisa didn't quite understand why she was still there. This all seemed more complicated than was necessary.

Stepping up to a glowing barrier Lisa raised a curious brow, as Merrill seemed to get suddenly nervous. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like the feeling of this," Isabela muttered as Lisa gave a small nod in agreement.

"Well, um…nothing's wrong, just give me a moment," she remarked as she turned to the barrier and raised her hands. With whoosh of her arms the barrier was suddenly broken. "Right, we can continue then."

"Wait…I felt the Veil shift, did you call something here?" Bethany questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Like blood magic?" Lisa accused as Merrill instantly started to shy away from the group of three that easily towered over the small girl.

"Maybe…yes, but only a little and I can control them. It was just a spirit, nothing more."

"One day it's a spirit and the next your waking up as an abomination," Isabela commented as Merrill simply ignored the remark and continued to lead the group into the elfish graveyard. Lisa had to admit that she really wasn't comfortable with the idea of bringing a possible blood mage back to Kirkwall. Sure, maybe she believed she had control of it, but from the way that her father had harked about the forbidden magic she wasn't just about to trust a stranger's word.

They stepped up to the altar that overlooked the mountain range and Lisa couldn't exactly hold her tongue to the beauty of the scenery before them. "Wow…" she breathed as Isabela stepped up next to her with a small smirk.

"You should see the view from sea, it's a hundred times better," she nudged as Lisa gave her a sideways smile before turning to look at Merrill as she got their attention before performing the ritual. And what they found was that Lisa had been carrying around more than a simple necklace for the past year.

In a flash of bright light Flemeth herself appeared before them with a pleased smile on her face. "I'm surprised…I was half expecting to end up on a merchant's table." Once Lisa was able to close her mouth and return an unimpressed look on her face she replied.

"I couldn't find a place that bought witches in an amulet."

"I know a man, I could've given you his contact," Isabela smirked as Flemeth laughed and shook her head.

"You speak words as if they're cheap coin." Isabela frowned as her voice lowered.

"You don't know me." Flemeth gave another chuckle.

"I know your type," and Lisa had to admit that she was surprised with how off put Isabela seemed by that comment. The woman was always so good a pushing off peoples' insults towards her. She wouldn't expect that this woman was so easily able to push her buttons.

"Anyway," Lisa remarked, trying to return the conversation to what had just happened. "So…you were inside the amulet, this whole time?"

"Just a piece, a small piece. Simple insurance because if I know my Morrigan it will be needed," Lisa raised a brow at the name only for Isabela to give a small chuckle.

"I can't tell if she's your daughter or your enemy," she questioned as Flemeth laughed.

"Neither can she," she remarked before turning around towards the cliff.

"So that's just it then?"

"Well…I suppose I can give you some words of advice," she turned back around and looked at Merrill who had been standing there nervously this whole time. "There is no path darker than when your eyes are shut. And you…" she turned back to Lisa; lovely, more pointless advice. Sure, her father used to say things like this to her all the time, but she respected him enough to listen and take his words seriously. With Flemeth…they were simply hallow noises. "One must not be so blind to the rest of the world around you. For when you make the leap…there will be no one to save you for when you fall." Lisa blinked and she had to admit that she went into a bit of a flash back as the witch transformed into a dragon and flew off.

Her father had told her that all the time. She always believed that it was easier to just put blinders on and keep moving forward. But her father was always the one to take her and pull her up for air. He'd be the one to ask her how things were going and when she replied with "fine" he would pull her back, sit her down, look her dead in the eye and ask her again. That look always seemed to intimidate her into telling the truth. And it had been a very long time since she'd heard someone point that out to her again.

And it wasn't like she was doing terrible today, but she had to admit she could do with one of her father's sit-downs. Her mother was much too busy with dealing with the Viscount and getting their home back. And Lisa never felt like it was the right time to bring up her problems with her younger sister. After all, Bethany always seemed to be in hiding when she wasn't with her.

Yet, she still did her best to roll it off like water off a ducks back.


	12. Sticks and Stones

After grabbing the empty amulet they headed back to the city and she showed Merrill where her new home was to be. Lisa had to admit that she was surprised by how excited Merrill was about all of this. Then again, maybe that was because she'd never been in the city before. She couldn't really tell.

Either way it was back to work, especially since that bit of a sidetrack hadn't resulted in any increase in their funds. But Lisa had to admit that she was surprised with herself. Sure, she hardly slept at night, but they were making good progress. And the work didn't end there as even the Viscount started to ask for her help. Well…that wasn't true; in reality she'd read a pamphlet from the Keep that was requesting help. It paid well and thus she turned up to discover that the Viscount's somewhat flowery son had been kidnapped by a Qunari.

That the sent them to the Wayward Coast where they ended up being beaten to the punch by the well-known Winters. They were a family business made up of professional killers. And from what Lisa had read about them they seemed to take pride in getting the job done and getting the job done well. But when she looked upon what seemed like the next generation she had to admit that she was a little bit saddened. This woman wasn't someone that took pride in their craft, in the ability to keep kills to a minimum; instead she lived off each death.

"And another monster falls by the hand of the Winters." The woman remarked as Lisa, Isabela, Bethany, and Aveline stepped into the clearing. They watched as the Viscount's son fell to his knees besides the Qunari, calling out the creature's name. Lisa had to admit that it saddened her. Obviously he cared much about this beast and she had to sympathize with him. Her parents weren't exactly thrilled with her sexual orientation, especially being the eldest of the siblings she was sort of expected to carry on the Hawke name. And at first they simply told her that she was just looking for attention. And she sort of was…but then it got to a point where she just never looked at men or women the same.

She couldn't exactly put her finger on when it happened, but it had. But the worst part about it was that despite all of this…she'd never found someone that she truly felt a connection with. It was easy to pull a curious girl under the covers. But it was difficult to keep her there. Normally when the mornings would come the girls would get up, blush about what happened last night, and start getting dressed. And for a moment, Lisa's confidence would falter when she asked her if she would see her again. And as always, the woman would give her a surprised look before sadness swept over her eyes. It was obvious…during the night it was steamy and hot and lovely, but while the girl planned on going back to her normal life with this checked off her bucket list…Lisa couldn't. This was Lisa's life. And the Viscount's son was the same way.

So it angered her that the Winters had so casually done away with Saemus's lover; Qunari or not. "How could you!? You monster!" Saemus shouted at her as the woman laughed.

"I'm hardly the monster here," she glanced up to watch as Lisa and her friends approached.

"Not from my angle," Lisa growled as her friends gave her a curious look, wondering what had happened during the short walk to make her react this way.

"Ah, competition. Well, you're too late. This is my bounty."

"Messah," Saemus remarked, "I'll go with you without trouble…if you just don't let this monster get away with the murder she's committed." The woman frowned at Saemus before turning towards Lisa and pulling out her blades.

"No need to ask," she grumbled as she pulled out a blade just in time for the woman to swing down.

"So you're the flowery boy's bodyguard then?" The woman laughed as Lisa took a swing at her, the nimble bounty hunter flipping away.

"Hardly. Consider me as someone sweeping up the rubbish," the woman simply smirked and charged back forward. And the problem was that while Lisa knew she was nimble, the Winters woman was even more agile. This was what she was born to do and thus after a while it caught up to Lisa and she was found tripping over the woman's outstretched foot, unarmed, and onto her back. The woman swung her blade down as Lisa caught her wrist just in time, looking up at the woman's grinning face.

"You're a little over your head aren't you? I've heard of you, Hawke, all that you've done. I've also heard about all of the women you've done. A dike little Ferelden aren't you? I'm sure this job means a lot to you," she gave another push on her knife, sending it an inch closer to her face. Lisa spit in her face as the woman growled and shoved more. "You see…us Winters are built for this and we don't fall to peasants like you." Another shove and Lisa was forced to push her hands to the side so the knife sunk into her shoulder. She yelped in pain, blinking at the hot tears in her eyes but fought through it as she reached down for a small knife at her hip.

"And us Hawke's are born to be the best…not what is most base," she remarked before sinking the blade into the woman's stomach. She lurched and sat up, giving Lisa enough space to pull the knife out of her shoulder and shove it into her chest, killing her on instant.

During all of this her friends had been doing their best to hold off the Winters' guards. And once the leader lay limp on the ground Lisa did her best to sit up, looking at her bleeding shoulder and wincing as she shifted her shirt to look a the wound. "Lisa…lemme help," Bethany offered, rushing over as Lisa finished getting up, shrugging her sister off.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," she remarked, her wounded arm wrapped across her stomach to dull the pain.

"I can see the exit wound! Let me heal it!" Bethany argued as she reached for Lisa's bicep.

"No!" Lisa snapped, "I've gotten over worse, Bethany!"

"Why are you always so difficult?! I just want to help! Both you and Carver were always so difficult!"

"Because whenever you did mum and dad were always there to pat you on the back and tell you that you did a good job while Carver and I were scolded and sent to our rooms." There was a pause as Bethany's face fell in surprise. Lisa sighed and rolled her eyes, "Anyway, let's get back to the task at hand." And because of all of the commotion there was no conversation during the walk back as Lisa did her best to patch up her shoulder, which wasn't much on the move.


	13. The Strongest Falls

She left her friends to walk Saemus up to the Viscount's room as the man welcomed his son with a relieved smile. "Hawke I take it? Thank you for getting my son back…" he glanced at her wounded shoulder, "I hope you didn't run into too much trouble."

"No…just a few thugs here and there," she lied only for Saemus to interrupt their conversation to start shouting about his lover. Admittedly Lisa was too tired to be involved and simply took her pay and left for the Hanged Man.

As the days passed, though, Lisa found that her shoulder wasn't mending as well as she had hoped it would. She couldn't figure out what it was but every time she pulled off her shirt to look at it, rather than seeing it healing up, it looked slightly off colored and was extremely tender. It was getting to a point that she couldn't really pull her bow back fully, which was starting to take a tow on her skills. The only thing that really seemed to help was a few cups of liquor to dull the pain. But surprisingly Isabela was the one to tell her to stop drinking.

"Look, Lisa…I can see that your shoulder hasn't healed. You need to stop being stubborn and ask your sister for help with it."

"I'm fine…"

"Stop," Isabela interrupted, taking the cup that was in Lisa's hand and pulling it away from her. "I'm serious," she reached over to touch her shoulder and Lisa immediately yelped in pain. "You and Bethany haven't talked to each other in days. This could easily become worse than you could expect. I've seen this at sea and it normally ends in you losing an arm or your life," she said in a more serious tone that Lisa had ever seen.

"Look, I'll go talk to Anders-"

"No, Lisa. Going behind your sister's back to get Anders to help isn't going to make this any easier. Go talk to Bethany." She said sternly before standing up and walking away. Lisa frowned, looking at the table surface as she pulled out her father's ring and turned it over in her fingers. She'd forgotten what he'd told her, what he'd asked her to do. He'd told her to give herself a chance to show her weakness, her sadness, to anyone. And all of Bethany's fussing was only making her more frazzled. So maybe…maybe Isabela was right.

Slowly she made her way back home. Gamlen was gone per usual and her mother was in bed, but Bethany was simply sitting in front of the fire, reading. She didn't react to Lisa's entrance, as she hadn't for most nights, only until Lisa leaned against the fire mantle. Bethany glanced up, her face flat as Lisa rolled her lips and looked towards the ceiling. "When mum and dad found out about your magic, they had sat Carver and I down-"

"What are you-" Lisa held up her hand to stop her sister.

"They sat us down and told us that having two mages in the family would mean that we would be in charge of keeping the family safe. And…they also told us that while it may seem like they didn't spend as much time with us, it didn't mean they loved us any less. Yet, when things started to get tough and we started to move homes we sort of forgot about it all. We were jealous and so we did whatever we could to get mum and dad's attention."

"Lisa I-"

"Please don't talk," she begged and quickly Bethany closed her mouth as Lisa continued. "And I guess with all of this in terms of the Blight I started to forget about what father had even asked for me. I've been selfish and angry and really…really sad. Mum was right about everything that happened during our escape from Lothering, it was my fault," she wiped at tears that had started to drip down her face. "I wanted to forget about it, to just pretend that it didn't bother me so that you and mother weren't bother by it. But I can't ignore it anymore. I can't do this alone, Bunny," she looked up at her sister's surprised face. "And I'm sorry for all of the things I've said." There was a pause before Bethany closed her book and stood from the seat.

"No…I'm sorry. I never realized everything that was happening. I sort of had always looked up to you for your strength. No matter what happened you were always able to smile or power through it and so I guess I never figured that it would ever come to a head." Lisa smirked, wiping at the last of her tears before clearing her throat.

"Okay, and finally…I really need you to look at my shoulder." Bethany laughed before nodding. And things were much smoother between the pair, not that it had ever been very rocky, but there was no longer tension that seemed to hover above the two of them.


	14. The Brooding Companion

So they set out on their last bit of jobs, one including a shady-like meeting with a dwarf in Lowtown. The man sent them to a home in the alienage only to find a chest filled with nothing. "What the hell," Lisa muttered, checking behind the chest as if it was some sort of trick. Which then got Lisa thinking as she frowned. "I smell a trap."

"Could've fooled me," Isabela smirked as she picked at her fingernails with the end of her knife.

"Definitely," Bethany agreed as they made their way towards the exit. Almost immediately a small army of thugs that they had to deal with welcomed them. Not that it was particularly difficult. But their next surprise was an armored elf that appeared from around the corner.

"If I'd known he'd been able to find a woman so able I would've gone right to you," he remarked as he bent down to look at the leader thug. Lisa raised a brow as she looked over him. It wasn't really the armor that surprised her; it was the markings on his skin; they were startling white and matched his cropped hair.

"Is there any reason why you didn't?" She asked him, crossing her arms over her chest as the man suddenly seemed to become very cross. "What?"

"Denarius…" he grumbled before turning towards Lisa, suddenly noticing that they were still there. "Sorry, but I have some business that I needed help with."

"I'm Hawke by the way, nice to meet you," Lisa said sarcastically as the man blinked before realizing what she was getting at.

"I'm Fenris."

"Lovely," she nodded before gesturing towards him, "now what is it you need help with?"

"My previous master lives in a mansion in Hightown…and I plan to get to him before he gets to me."

"A fighting and freed slave? What a surprise," Isabela muttered as Lisa nodded. She really was all against slavers. But when they made their way up to his mansion Lisa became aware of who this Denarius fellow was. He was a powerful mage that didn't see any problem with blood magic. That admittedly made her nervous, as well as his anger towards mages and she found herself keeping close to Bethany. If worse came to worse she'd take him out before he had a chance to turn on them.

The worst part of all of it was that once they made their way through the house and past all of the demons…there was nothing for Fenris. His master had disappeared and the elf was furious. And as they made their way out of the house to try and find the man he was simply leaning against the wall and pondering. "I spent years running from a life of magic and now I've found myself in the company of more mages." Lisa stepped in front of her sister.

"I know nothing of what your previous master did, but I assure you Bethany has proven herself two times over." Fenris raised his chin before turning to look at Lisa.

"I suppose I seem ungrateful, this is not the case. And if you would might I ask that I work with you for now?" Lisa raised a curious brow. For someone that had just been threatening her sister – or at least that's what it sounded like to her – he suddenly wanted to join her little pack of misfits. At first she was going to say flat out no but then really thought about it. He was passionate and in the end that's what everyone on her team had: passion. For some it was a passion in an idea, like Anders, and for others – Isabela mostly – it was sexual passion. But Lisa had to admit that she didn't know what she'd do without the pirate's company and crude jokes.

With all of the work Lisa had been doing she had to admit she didn't really think she needed to do any more work, but still…money was needed. In truth she'd reached fifty sovereigns without a problem, but she chose to give some of it up for her family's need. So she was still up for finding work, one of witch involved helping an extremely aggravating man. Apparently he'd lost his wife, who was "much too much trouble." She'd at first said she wasn't going to help a monster like him but in the end her conscience bullied her into it.

The worst part of it was that they came to a surprising discovery. His wife hadn't run away, she hadn't moved in with a man she was having an affair with; Templars hadn't caught her. No…she'd been murdered. And the worst part was that all that was left of her was a pile of bones and her wedding ring. While the husband seemed surprisingly upset about this, Lisa found herself getting a nervous swirl in the pit of her stomach. There was something about this that didn't sit quite right. But again life made her continue onwards till the thought of the dead wife was a simple memory.


	15. A Kiss With a Drink

Leaning back in a chair at the Hanged Man she glanced at her hand of cards, Isabela across from her with Varric and Anders on the other sides. They had a big day of cleaning out a mine tomorrow and Lisa had to admit she wasn't looking forward to it. All of this work was really taking a toll on her body and it was obvious as her friends practically had to shake her to get her attention. "Your draw," Isabela instructed as Lisa nodded, looked through her hand, through the cards on the table, grumbled and folded.

"Third hand that you've folded, Lilly. Mustn't be your night," Varric chuckled as he took his turn as Lisa gave a small grunt and a nodded, returning to her drink. She was tired and aching everywhere. In Lothering she'd never worked this hard, and even if she had she always had the nice breaks when she could have her little tumbles in the sheets. Lisa didn't know why but it was always surprisingly rejuvenating for her.

And while she figured Isabela and her would have a tumble here and there…they hadn't. She wasn't sure why, but they both seemed a little hesitant about it. It was like doing that would put them in a certain position that neither of them wanted to be. Currently Lisa wasn't looking for anything emotional; she just didn't need that right now. Having something serious meant that she would have to add that to her list of things to constantly keep up with. And truthfully, Lisa would put her family before that any day.

She yawned and stretched her back as Isabela started to deal out another hand. Lisa placed her empty cup down and stood, stretching her aching arms over her head, "I think I'm going to turn in for the night, early morning tomorrow and all," she commented. The two boys nodded and continued to shuffle through their hands but Isabela chose to stand with her as she let the two know she'd be right back before following Lisa towards the door.

"Why don't you give yourself a day?" She asked seriously, brushing her hand against Lisa's arm as the Hawke's shoulders slumped.

"I wish I could but the guy apparently needs this fixed now rather than later. I'll be fine."

"But you look exhausted, Lisa. You need to sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," she joked only to blink as Isabela suddenly leaned in to kiss her gently. Lisa just stood there as the pirate stepped back and playfully licked her lips.

"That's a poor way to live. Now get some sleep, love," she purred before turning and making her way back to her game. Lisa had to admit she was a little stunned by it all and simple chuckled to herself on the walk home. Normally she was the one that made the big jump to kissing someone so it was a little strange to be on the other side of it. And while one side of her told her it was just the pirate having too many drinks she couldn't help but wonder what it meant.

She tried to ignore it though; despite the amount it made her toss and turn last night as she pulled her way to the Hanged Man to pick up the last of her crew. But, when she came into the tavern she found that the pirate wasn't at her normal station. Raising a brow she glanced back at her sister who shrugged before following Lisa up the starts to the rooms in the Hanged Man. Gently she pushed on the door to Isabela's room, giving a soft knock in the process.

But it hadn't roused the dark skinned woman, due to the fact that she was simply passed out cold on her bed. The woman seemed to have hardly even made it there. Her clothes and boots were still on and her feet were hanging off the edge of the bed. She smirked and shook her head, "Guess it'll just be us two for the day," she whispered over her shoulder, "or at least see if Aveline isn't too busy to help. Cause I doubt we really want her woken up with a hangover." Bethany chuckled and nodded before glancing as Lisa gestured to Isabela's shoes.

Quietly the pair set to undressing the pirate and shifting her more onto the center of the bed. Bethany then took one of the empty bottles, filled it with water and gave a small incantation that Lisa knew well. In short it was a bit of a "hangover fixer" during the days when it was really bad. The only bad thing was that it detoxed her body ruthlessly so while she felt excellent by the end of the day, while her body was removing everything bad she was bed ridden.

They then left her to go and grab Aveline before making the long trip to the Bon Pit. The place was empty and in ruins, the group only running into some looters. Although they even seemed scared enough of a specific mining shaft that the group chose to be their starting point. It was obvious what was going on here: dragons. The place was riddled with bones, fire, and the distant roar of them. Lisa had to admit she wasn't really looking forward to it as they came in contact with a few smaller, baby dragons. Hell, the only real contact she'd had with a dragon was with Flemeth and she had no desire to actually fight the witch in that form.

But soon enough the inevitable came and the three were ambushed by an adult dragon on the plateau of the mountainside. In a different light she might consider it beautiful, but with the beast screaming in her ear she wasn't quite eager to stop and gawk at it.

Without hesitation it was blowing fire at her as she was forced to roll out of the way. "Get some ice on it, Bethany!" She yelled to her sister who quickly swirled her arms and fired a rush of ice at the beast. As the dragon was distracted she stabbed a knife into its foot only for it to roar and spin it's tail around, smacking Lisa back against a nearby rock. She grunted as the air was knocked from her lungs. Aveline quickly retreated to block a mouthful of fire from the dragon that was aimed at Lisa. The ginger gritted her teeth as Lisa looked up to see bits of the fire licking off of her husbands shield and against her face. The image gave her strength as she nodded to the guard captain, signaling her to back off.

Quickly Aveline stood up and pushed back on the fire, continuing to step towards the dragon. "Now," Lisa yelled as Aveline lowered her shield, letting the Hawke step onto it before pushing back up and launching her towards the dragon. Unfortunately…things didn't seem to go very well. The dragon grabbed her out of the air as she yelped. She felt the air squeezed out of her body as the monster's talons dug into her skin.


	16. Kiss and Tell

"Lisa!" Bethany cried as Lisa pulled at the creature's grip before tugging out another knife and sinking it into the dragon's hand. There was a large roar as it let go of her and she tumbled to the ground. That was painful. And the worst part was that the beast wasn't done with her. This time it gave up using it's hands and clamped it's teeth around her, the majority of its teeth digging into her arm. At this point Lisa wasn't sure she could do this anymore. Everything hurt, she was bloodied and bruised, and she wasn't seeing this ending.

But out of nowhere a fireball slammed against the dragon's face as Aveline sliced the back of the monster's hind leg, making it fall to the ground. Lisa pulled out another knife and stabbed the final blow into its eye before painfully shoving the dragon's mouth open.

Lisa laid there, her arm numb and while there were plenty of massive wounds she was also sure it was broken in several places. Bethany rushed towards her as she started pulling at her armor to get at her skin. "Shit…this is bad…this is really bad," she started breathing quickly as she looked at the damage it had done.

"It's okay, Bunny, just…just get my arm," she assured her as Bethany nodded slowly, trying to force her eyes away from the bleeding wounds on Lisa's side as she turned to her arm. She pulled in a deep breath as she closed her eyes and her hands started to glow blue. It was several minutes long and Lisa had to admit it was far from painless, yet she did her best from showing it on her face.

When it was all said and done the three of them were extremely exhausted as they dragged their way to the dark streets of Kirkwall. "You need to get yourself to Anders," Aveline commented as Bethany nodded in agreement. Even after all of that magic the wounds on her arm and side were still open and bleeding. So while Aveline went back to the barracks, Lisa tried to convince Bethany to go home.

"No, you can't go there alone with an arm that doesn't work."

"Look, it's dark out, I don't want you being out on the streets now. You know more Templars are more diligent at night," she explained as Bethany frowned and shook her head, only for another voice to chime in.

"She's right, you know. Why don't you get home and get some sleep? I'll take it from here," Isabela remarked as the pair turned to watch her push off of the wall she was leaning on. Lisa smirked before kissing her sister on the cheek as the girl sighed and nodded, heading off to go get some rest. Isabela simply chuckled as Lisa, giving her a quick look over. "I'd wondered where you'd gone today and it seems like you got yourself in a bit of a trouble."

"Oh, you know, just a few cuts here and there," she remarked, wincing slightly as she moved her arm. At that the pair made their way to Anders's clinic where the man heard Lisa's explanation, told her she was crazy, and then mended the most serious of injuries as best he could. She still had a few cuts but they would easily heal over time.

The two headed back to the Hanged Man only for Isabela to hold out her hand and stop Lisa from going in. The girl looked at her curiously. "Lisa…I want to thank you for sort of all of this…letting me join your little crew and all. Not a lot of people look at me and think that I would be worth their time." Lisa frowned before leaning down to press a tender kiss to her lips.

"You're plenty worth it, Isabela. You're the only one that thinks otherwise," she remarked before heading into the tavern. And for the first time in a very long while…Isabela was speechless.

There was another week of planning before Lisa made the trip to finally deliver the fifty sovereigns to Varric's brother. It was somewhat of a momentous occasion. Months of work and lack of sleep and more injuries than she would've liked to count lead up to this. And while Bertrand hardly seemed to care who she was, he seemed plenty happy to take her money and her maps and agree to let her come along.

All that was left was saying goodbye to the family, which in turn meant saying goodbye to her sister. It wasn't something she particularly wanted to do, but she knew it was the best thing. Her mother wouldn't be able to take being alone and worry about both of them. At least with Bethany home she had one physical child to hold on to.

"Are you sure?" Bethany asked as Lisa hugged and kissed her mother goodbye. She turned back to her sister and gave her a small smile before pulling the necklace with her father's ring on it off and taking Bethany's hand. Lisa curled her sister's hand around it as Bethany gave her a surprised look.

"I need you to keep this safe…it's really precious to me. I couldn't possibly have Darkspawn getting their blood all over it," she smirked as Bethany's eyes started to tear up. Quickly Lisa pulled her into a tight hug.

"I promise," she whispered into her ear holding her hand to her chest once Lisa had pulled away and made her way over to the group of travelers. Isabela gave her a playful nudge in the ribs.

"Look at you being all sentimental," she teased as Lisa rolled her eyes and nudged back. They were then off. Months of preparation coming into play as the group powered into the wilderness and quickly underground. Lisa had to admit that it was all very strange to her. The dwarfs didn't seem to have a problem but she and the rest of her friends – even Varric – were having trouble coping with it all. Her body was so confused with all of the darkness because every time they set up camp and she put her head down to sleep it would still be dark when they woke up. She felt disoriented and short for breath like if she was climbing a tall mountain.

By day three their path was blocked and Lisa had to admit she was a little relieved. This could mean she could take a nap. How she found she loved naps. But today wasn't the case because they'd been put in charge of going and finding a way around. Lisa stretched and nodded, rounding up her team just as one of the dwarves ran frantically towards her. His name was Bohdan and he was a merchant dwarf that was extremely worried about his son Sandal. The boy was special somehow, she couldn't quite put her finger on what but she made the promise that she would find him and bring him back.

So they descended into the tunnels as Lisa yawned and stretched her arms over her head some more. "Cover your mouth why don't you, Sleeping Beauty," Varric chuckled as Lisa gave a nervous laugh and lowered her arms down.

"Sorry, my body hasn't really gotten used to all of this. I think it keeps expecting for me to go to bed or something."

"Well you need to keep your wits about you in a place like this," Fenris muttered, bringing up the rear as Lisa nodded lazily. She did have to admit that she missed Isabela being on this trip. The woman had waved them off at one point, saying that she had an appointment or something. But maybe that was for the best. Lisa did have to admit that this didn't exactly seem like a place for a pirate. Her life was spent on the sea, in the open air with nothing to keep her contained. This whole trip was like walking in a giant cage.


	17. Don't Expect It to Go to Plan

They made their way through, fighting off all strangling Darkspawn before coming upon a surprising sight. There was a field of dead Darkspawn and in the middle of them was Sandal. Lisa raised a curious brow before glancing at Varric, "By the Maker," she muttered, moving forward and kneeling down to his level. "Are you okay?" The boy seemed to be slow in the head, his eyes never seemed to look in the same direction at the same time and yet he had this strange look of complete understanding. So he nodded, smiled, and held out his hand, showing a rock with a glowing symbol etched into it.

"Boom," he explained as Lisa nodded slowly before looking to the side and practically having a heart attack at the sight of an Ogre frozen in place. While these creatures no longer matched up to the level of enemies she dealt with – like dragons – they still held a sense of fear in her heart. She could deal with a dragon any day but an Ogre had her freeze in place with worry as the memories rushed back to her. Lisa did her best to swallow this as she gave a nervous chuckle and patted Sandal on the back, leading him in the direction that they'd come before letting him find his way back to his father by himself.

"Talented boy," Varric remarked as Lisa nodded before moving onwards.

Eventually the group found a way around the cave-in and soon enough they were a week under the surface and staring at something that surprised every person there, even Bertrand. "By the Stone," he breathed as everyone's mouth fell open. It looked like a massive mineshaft of raw lyrium, but not any normal lyrium, something about this seemed more powerful…more dangerous.

"Wait…you didn't know this was here?" Lisa remarked without her eyes moving from the sight before them.

"It was a simple tavern story; a week under the surface, but this was more than I could've imagined," he remarked before calling for them to set up camp. Of course, he wasn't one to go into the meat of the shaft first and turned his attention to Lisa and her group. Varric seemed a little nervous about all of this but begrudgingly agreed as they headed into the shaft to see what it held in store.

"Are you all right?" Lisa asked as they dealt with a few shades and a stone golem.

"Ya…just never thought we would find a place like this. Bertrand had been going on about this adventure for so long that I figure it would end in flames and we come out empty handed. I suppose that all of this was more than I had expected," Lisa could tell that wasn't the whole story but chose not to push as they continued into an interesting looking room.

It was large but practically empty except for a pedestal that held a small idol. That made Lisa nervous and she reach up for her father's ring, only to curse as she remembered that it was back in Kirkwall. That's when she found herself turning to the witch's abandoned locket. Lisa hadn't taken much interest in it, only found a pair of pictures that looked interesting. Both of them were profiles of women, the one of the right side of the locket obviously being Flemeth, but the one on the left was a stranger. She looked somewhat familiar to Flemeth but they weren't completely identical. Either way it gave her nervous fingers something to do as Varric picked up the idol of pure lyrium and turned towards the door where Bertrand waited.

"Brother! Look at this! It's gotta be worth thousands," he remarked, tossing it over to his older brother as Bertrand got a strange glint in his eye. "Just imagine what else this place holds." He started to move to the door on the far side of the room only for Lisa to reach out and grab his arm to stop him.

"Varric…" she muttered and the dwarf turned around as the group watched him slowly closing the massive stone door. They rushed towards it, trying to catch it before the slab slid into place, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. And then they were stuck. **

"That nug-humping son of a bitch! When I get my hands on him…I'm gonna…gonna…argh!" He growled as Lisa tried to be more productive…as well as not have a panic attack. She'd prepared herself for Darkspawn, for cave-ins, for unstable bridges that dropped into never-ending chasms, but she wasn't ready for someone in their group to betray them.

"Let's just find a way out, okay?" She told Varric, making her way to the other side of the room as she pulled at the door and was relieved to find it opened to more of the thaig. Unfortunately this place only seemed to go deeper into the Deep Roads, which wasn't exactly what any of them wanted. And the farther they got in, the stranger the enemies seemed to get. There were no more Darkspawn, the stone golems no longer outlined the walls, they'd get the every so often shades but then there were these strange creatures that looked like they had bones of electricity and rock plating. Lisa didn't know what to do except that she needed to get rid of them.

Eventually, though, they found themselves being stopped by a demon. She had to admit that she wasn't surprised. During her time in Kirkwall she'd seen more demons than she thought she would in two lifetimes. The beast was larger than the other strange creatures but that's because it was simply hiding as them. And after a short conversation they figured out it was a hunger demon, feeding off the unknown monster's hunger for the raw lyrium.

Anders made it clear that working with a demon wasn't a good idea and Lisa had no desire to go against that. Despite how it claimed that it would let them out, it could easily mean that they would be lead into a trap instead. So she chose to end the demons life and simply move on, cutting down whatever was in their path.

And the worst part was that demon wasn't even the worst that the Deep Roads had to offer. They came out into a clearing only to watch as a massive electrical monster was created before them, it's bones a sparking red rather than the smaller enemies' electric yellow. "Rock Wraith…" Varric breathed, "they're supposed to be a myth," Lisa quickly shoved him out of the way of the monster's swinging, stone arm as she rolled in the other direction.

"Ya, well, congratulations, you're myth is how a real thing. How about we return it to the story books?" Lisa smirked as Varric chuckled, pulling out his beloved Bianca and nodding. Bianca was an interesting contraption that Lisa had to admit she was bit jealous of. It was an automatic crossbow, meaning that there was no time spent on reloading the bow or dragging the string back. All he had to do was cock it and fire. And while Lisa wasn't particularly attracted to crossbows, she did wish there was a simple bow version of it. Then again she had no idea how that would work and still be as easy to carry around.

The battle seemed to rage on for hours as everyone pounded his or her attacks against the Rock Wraith only for it to crumble and reassemble. The four were becoming exhausted and they were running out of heath potions. Having Anders there did help some but despite being in a lyrium mine he didn't have very easy access to any of it to keep using his heal abilities.

Eventually, though, Lisa started to see a pattern in the Rock Wraith's movements and started to notice that they were slowing down. It was time to act. "Fenris get behind it and take out its legs! Varric fire a rope across the nearest pillars! Anders keep this guy from shrugging me off!" She commanded before whistling a high-pitched whistle at the monster, catching its attention. Quickly, she turned and ran, bounding up some rocks before getting up as high as she could and using what little energy she had left to push off and launch herself at the beast. She sunk her blades between its stone plates and amazingly she was held there by it. Anders kept off the smaller Wraiths while Fenris and Varric moved into position.

Then everything fell into place as the Rock Wraith tumbled. Lisa stood up on the falling monster, pulling out her bow, notching an arrow and aiming it at what looked like its heart before letting it go. The head sunk into the ball of energy and the monster seemed to scream before collapsing into a pile of rocks. Lisa grinned, panting as she set her bow back around her torso, smoothing her hair back and wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Talk about unbelievable," Varric remarked from around the corner as Lisa nodded.

"Thanks, took me some time but-"

"No, not that," he remarked as Lisa pouted only to see what he was talking about, "this." In front of him was a massive hall of treasure up to the ceiling with gold and priceless artifacts. She couldn't believe it. But probably the best part of all of this was a door; a sweet and beautiful door that looked like nothing more than a way out. In a way she was willing to give up all of that gold just to see a door that brought her home.

Of course, she didn't forget the gold. The group took about two bags filled of the treasure each – and still the place looked like they'd hardly touched it – before beginning their walk home. Lisa had to admit that it was a bit annoying to continuously hear Varric bitch and moan about his brother betraying them, but she was really in too good of a mood to tell him to stop. For the first time in a while everything had gone right. Isabela was right. The stupid necklace around her neck had nothing to do with her good fortune. It was _her_ doing, one hundred percent.


	18. Losing Another Piece of Her Heart

Only…when they made their way back onto the streets of Kirkwall, Lisa's good luck ended there. She left her friends to make her way home with her bounty, ready to tell them that they would finally get the home and the name that they deserved. But rather than finding Bethany reading in front of the fire and her mother writing more documents to show the Viscount, she found Cullen – Knight-Commander, second in command to Knight-Captain Meredith – standing behind her sister who was now dressed in a Circle uniform.

"No…" she breathed, dropping the heavy bags onto the floor with a thump, some of the gold coins trickling out onto the floor.

"Lisa…please don't do anything," Bethany begged, "I've promised to go peacefully and they won't prosecute you and mother for hiding me."

"But…I…" her eyes switched between Bethany's glazed over eyes and Cullen's disappointed ones. "I did this so you wouldn't have to hide…"

"I still would've, whether I was in an estate or not, sister. Now I don't have to hide anymore," she smiled but there was fear in her voice. She didn't know what she was getting into and Lisa could see it in her eyes. Her father had made the Circle seem like hell itself and now there was no way she could get out of it. And again all of this was her fault. Maybe if she'd brought her sister along rather than left her here she could've helped her. But now…now it was too late.

Her sister stepped up and gave Lisa a hug before placing the cool metal ring in her hand. "Keep mother safe," she asked before kissing Lisa on the cheek and walking out the door with Cullen in tow. Lisa's eyes burned with salty tears as she bent down to soothe her mother who had collapsed on the floor in tears.

After that things weren't exactly the same between her and her mother. Neither of them seemed to be able to have a conversation without bringing up any of the family members and whenever they did her mother was never able to hold her tears or temper enough for the conversation to be civilized. So instead Lisa chose to keep their talks short, letting Varric get in contact with his people that could sell some of the more obscure items as she bought her mother's childhood home. The act seemed to please the woman enough that she no longer looked sad whenever Lisa passed, but it in no way filled the hole in Lisa's heart.

She'd let her family down again. It left her feeling empty and lost and made her nights even more sleepless as Bethany's face joined her nightmares. Friends tried to cheer her up, but she would simply put on a fake smile and bully through all interactions with them. Isabela had come back to town, although she seemed to be a bit antsy all the time, like standing in one place for too long would end horribly for her. But she didn't say anything about it and Lisa surely wasn't going to pester her.

For the next year and a half it was all kind of just one plain day after another. While Lisa lived in Hightown she still found herself attracted to Lowtown. There was just so much more going on. Her mother had grown up in the life of a noble so in the end she was easily able to fit into all of the dinner parties and brunches, but Lisa was never comfortable about it. She preferred the dirtiness that reminded her of Lothering, of how whenever she got home she knew she needed a bath.


	19. Release Some of That Tension

One night, when Lisa and Isabela had had enough to drink to decide that sleeping with each other _was_ a good idea, she brought the pirate home. They were a fit of giggles as they made their wobbly way up the stairs and into her large room. Isabela was quick to leap into Lisa's arms, slamming their lips together in a tussle of spit and tongues. Lisa reached for as much of their dangerous weapons as possible before she was forced onto her back on the bed. Isabela sat up with a grin, straddling the Hawke's hips and rolling her own as she started to pull off her shoulder and elbow guards, untying the sash around her hips and tossing them to the bedroom floor.

Lisa smirked, running her hands up the woman's bare thighs and up to the black cloth between her legs. Curling her fingers around it and yanking it down and she pushed up on one side of her body and rolled her body over. She now sat between Isabela's legs with the pirate on her back and Lisa did have to admit it she could see why she was in this position so much, she looked quite beautiful looking up with lust-filled eyes.

She continued to pull at the panties, tossing them behind her before grabbing one of Isabela's legs. As quickly as possible she unclipped what seemed like dozens of buckles before the thigh-high leather boot let her pull it off, she then did the same for the other. "No, no, kitty," Isabela purred, swatting as Lisa's hands as she moved to deal with Lisa's clothes. Again, Lisa wasn't surprised to see how easy it was for the woman to deal with her garbs in such a drunkard state.

She pulled at her tunic, tossing it away from the bed as Lisa leaned down to press hot and heavy kisses against her lips. Their tongues swirled and Lisa couldn't help her hips rolling between Isabela's legs, needing the friction. Lisa pulled back, panting as Isabela chuckled, reaching up to cup one of her breasts as Lisa chewed playfully on her lip. Another smirk came from the pirate before she sat up to nibble on her nipple. Lisa writhed, her knees going weak as Isabela sat up some more, her free hand pinching and twisting the other.

Lisa's fingers dug into Isabela's thighs, her hips pushing up with each twist of the sensitive nubs. Her head feel back, giving soft whimpers from the sensations as he slid her left hand between Isabela's legs. The heat was immense and the wetness sparked more excitement in the woman's body as she slid her fingers between Isabela's folds. The pirate moaned around Lisa's breast before pulling back and biting her collarbone, sucking until a purple mark rested on the surface.

"Come'er," she groaned, shoving Lisa back as she yanks at Lisa's trousers and undergarments, removing the last of the cloth between the pair. Isabela straddled Lisa's thigh, her cheeks a dark red as she looked lustfully towards the archer. Lisa licked at her lips, practically pleading for the woman's hesitation to end as she slid a hand along Isabela's hip. Quickly, the Pirate responded by sliding her fingers against Lisa's slick entrance, bending down to tend again to her breasts as she pressed two fingers inside.

A relieved groan escaped Lisa's lips as her body clamped down around Isabela's fingers, her hips rising for more from the pirate as her fingers began to move. They curled sinfully inside Lisa, rubbing against the delicate collection of nerves that made her body twitch as her hand grabbed at Isabela's head. The ornate bandana was yanked down as Lisa's head arched back, feeling a third sliding inside, the pace increasing. All the while Isabela's body rolled against her, leaving bite marks all along her chest and neck. Lisa was in far too much of a haze to pay any attention, especially as Isabela brought her quickly to her first orgasm.

"Is-Isabela," she moaned, shakily, curling up as her muscles tightened before convulsing around Isabela's fingers. The pirate smirked; pressing kisses against Lisa's lips as her fingers started up again, resulting in several violent twitches from Lisa's hips. The archer gave a tired chuckle, reaching down to stop Isabela's hand as she gave a sly smile, "I'm thirsty," she breathed against her lips. Roughly they kissed again before Isabela shifted back with a chuckle, resting her back against the pillows and headboard. Casually she spread her legs, playing lazily with herself as she squeezed one of her breasts.

"Well come on, then. Take a drink," she purred as Lisa crawled towards her, lowering her head between Isabela's thighs. Her tongue ran around her womanhood, biting playfully on the inside of her thigh as Isabela pouted from all of the teasing. A just as it seemed like she was about to tell Lisa to stop; the archer dug her tongue deeply into the woman. Isabela gave a surprised and shaky gasp, her toes curling as her back arched. The muscle gave several jabs, as she tasted the pirate before sliding it up to her clitoris. Wrapping her lips around the nub she sucked then licked, then sucked again, continuing the process until Isabela was putty in her hands and Lisa was left with an amusing lisp from a tired tongue.

What seemed like hours later the pair laid contently under the sheets, tangled in naked limbs and cloth and Lisa found herself quickly dozing off. Only what seemed like a second later she found her eyes snapping open to Isabela shaking her. She must've fallen asleep or something because Isabela looked wide awake. "I heard a knock on your door," she remarked as Lisa gave her a confused look before slowly sitting up and getting out of bed, rubbing at her tired eyes.


	20. The Greatest of Surprises

"What time is it?" She yawned, reaching into her wardrobe to grab one of her silk robes, tossing Isabela an extra one.

"Certainly too early for someone to be having a visit," she muttered as Lisa tied the robe closed and stepped out into her quiet home. Bohdan had promised his services to her after she saved his son despite the fact that his son seemed to be quite able to take care of himself. Either way he was still here helping his mother keep the massive house together with his son's help. And apparently it was so early that the two were still in their quarters asleep, which seemed to surprise Lisa since it seemed like they never did go to bed.

Cautiously she opened the door and stared at something she never expected to see. Clara stared up at her with the surprisingly amber eyes as Isabela looked over her shoulder before grabbing onto the back of Lisa's robe in either fear or surprise. "Lisa…why is there a wolf at your door? That's not normal, right? Out of everything that's happened to you, this is strange…right? Please say it is?" She begged only to watch as Lisa knelt down and held out her hand to the dog. It came up and gently licked her palm before the girl smiled.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you, Clara," she said with excitement, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around the dog. And suddenly tears appeared in her eyes and she squeezed it tightly. Clara was all she had left of Lothering and for years she'd thought the marvelous beast was gone. And yet here she was in all her glory. Slowly Lisa pulled back, pulling at her tears as she glanced up at Isabela's confused face with a smirk. "This is Clara, we met a few years ago in Lothering. Never really one to be a pet, she's much too wild for that, but she always kept coming back whenever she would leave. Apparently this is no different."

"I think it is…" Isabela remarked, gesturing to a basket that Clara was standing over. The wolf whimpered and did the same as Lisa looked at it curiously. Slowly, she pulled at the corner of the blanket before pulling her hand back like it was going to bite her.

It was a baby.

Its head was covered in feathery black hair and it looked no more than a few months old and was sleeping soundly in the basket. But the worst part of it all was that when Lisa looked back up, Clara was gone. She snapped to her feet and rushed into the middle of the empty city with nothing but a robe on. "Clara!" She called, whipping her head around in search of the black wolf. But she was gone, leaving a baby on Lisa's doorstep.

The woman came back with slumped shoulders, looking down at the basket and then up at Isabela who was reading a small bit of parchment. Lisa glanced over her shoulder before plucking it out of her hands as she read it.

_Dear Lisa,_

_ Hello, darling. I know this is more than you're expecting to get from me, but this is something that I really need for you to do. His name is Kane and I know that you'll be able to care for him as if he was one of your own. I love you and I'm so proud of how you've grown._

_A Dear Old Friend_

"So…you have a baby now?" Isabela asked curiously as Lisa looked over the child, watching as he shifted in his sleep. Her mouth was open in surprise. She couldn't have a baby…or at least she just wasn't ready for one. Her life didn't have room for it but there wasn't much she could do now and I wasn't like she could simply leave him there.

So she brought Kane back inside and found him a room in one of the many bedrooms that her new home had. Her mother seemed to be thrilled – after she tried to understand how Kane came to be and even then Lisa couldn't tell if she believed her. And Lisa was happy for her; it helped the woman take her mind off of Bethany being in the Circle while Lisa was able to continue to live her life. She did admit, though, that she found some joy in coming back home to him. Despite how much she didn't exactly want him to show up on her doorstep, he had.

Lisa loved running her fingers through his thickening, black hair while she watched him draw or play on the floor. And while her mother had taken to loving – when he was able to talk – that he called her "nana" Lisa made it very clear for him not to call her any sort of "mother" name. She wasn't his mother, despite how close she felt to him as the years passed. To him she was Lisa – or with his young vocabulary "Leeza."

And in a way he really had become her child, but he wasn't. He didn't look anything like her. Everything about them was extremely different. His hair, for one, was black, and his eyes were a sharp green that seemed almost unnatural. She wasn't even sure if she should call him a Hawke. But in a way that seemed too silly to worry about.

For now she just dealt with having him and letting him grow up as she wondered whom his mother could've been. Did Clara have some other family she didn't know about? That was very possible. During her somewhat relaxing years she sort of tried to see if the woman was in Kirkwall. She asked all of her friends to keep an eye out, but in the end they just ended up fawning over Kane and seemed to forget about it all together.


	21. Trying For The Family She'd Dreamed Of

Aveline wanted to start teaching him how to fight when he was two and hardly able to walk. And he seemed genuinely interested in it, trying to pick up the guards' shields and walk around with one of their massive helmets on his head. Anders seemed to treat the boy more like a cat than anything but Lisa had to admit that she was always glad with how kind he was. Never a harsh word came out of his mouth when Kane was ear and in the end Lisa could see that Kane favored the man.

Fenris chose to not really pay any mind to the boy, but Lisa had caught him giving a small smile every so often whenever the boy would copy his cursing about Denarius. Merrill tried desperately to make the boy like her, more than was necessary. Lisa was sure the small woman still thought he hated her, and it made somewhat sense. Every time the two had been in contact he'd started crying, thrown up, or spilled something on her. But in the end Merrill never left Kane's thoughts and Lisa had a many a drawings of her and her silly unreflecting mirror.

Varric surprised her overall. She found herself leaving Kane at the Hanged Man with the dwarf and would feel completely okay about him being safe. The boy would simply sit in a chair, given a cup of juice, and stare mesmerized at the man as he told story after story. Lisa thought it might not be good for the boy, to fill his head about stories like the Hero of Ferelden and the fifth Blight, but she couldn't pull him away from it either.

In the end the only person that seemed unsure about Kane was Isabela. The woman had made herself somewhat scarce since the encounter that night and Lisa couldn't figure out why. Every time she came to the Hanged Man with the boy she was always conveniently gone. Varric claimed that it was the woman's fear of commitment and that just made Lisa confused. She wasn't committing to anything…sure, maybe she wanted a little more from the woman than just a satisfying night under the covers, but Kane's sudden presence had nothing to do with that.

Either way three years passed since her success in the Deep Roads and Lisa had found that she was more than comfortable leaving Kane with any of her friends for when she needed some time to herself. Today, he was with Bohdan and Sandal. Those two seemed to really get along, she wasn't sure why, maybe the similar imaginations but Kane always seemed worn out after being with the boy.

She made her way into the Hanged Man and instantly found Isabela settling on the bar with a drink in hand. "Isabela, fancy to see you here!" Lisa exclaimed, seeming to surprise Isabela as she jumped and turned around. Instantly the pirate's eyes dropped down to where Kane would normally be standing at the woman's side, holding her hand and either sucking on his thumb or dragging around a piece of parchment.

"Where's your buddy?" She asked curiously, downing the last of the drink as Lisa raised a curious brow.

"He's back home with Sandal…are you all right?" Lisa asked, crossing her arms over her chest as Isabela waved her hand at her as if to push away any worry.

"Of course I'm fine."

"Cause I haven't exactly seen you much since Kane got here," Lisa stated frankly and she could instantly see the guilt in Isabela's face.

"Oh…well I've just been looking up on that relic that I lost," Isabela remarked and while Lisa have every desire to call her out on her bullshit, she decided that bullying the woman into saying what was on her mind wasn't the best way to go about it. So instead she let the woman explain what she had found, and while it seemed to lead nowhere, Lisa simply smiled and nodded. Maybe one day she could get some truth out of the woman. Well, it wasn't that difficult to get her to tell the truth about other people, but it was practically impossible to get her to tell the truth about herself.

But soon enough Lisa's work picked up and she found that bringing Kane around with her wasn't exactly possible. Her work was too unknown. One day she could simply be delivering lost items to people, and another she could be putting down an assassins attack. And he truly didn't need to be involved in that. Varric told him too much violence for her own liking already.

These days, though, the Viscount had taken to calling on her specifically since he could see that she got results. The majority of the time it was about the Qunari that resided in the Docks district and never seemed to be able to leave. They were fierce creatures with an extremely rigid religion that lead their lives to the T. And then moment any of them chose to stray from it they were marked as traitors. Lisa didn't particularly agree with it, but she also wasn't one to tell them how they should live. Obviously enough of them agree with their way of life to continue following it.

Unfortunately, when they landed in Kirkwall three years ago they still claimed that they were waiting for their ship to come and rescue them. This fact didn't sit well with the Hawke. There was something that she didn't quite believe about their story. Par Vollen – their home – was not a three-year trip by sea, and apparently the Viscount agreed with her.


End file.
